Rio Ngumoha provided the spark as Liverpool came from two goals down to beat Villarreal at Anfield in the Champions League.
Andoni Iraola’s side endured a dismal opening half-hour but were given hope by Alexis Mac Allister’s goal before Ngumoha set up Ronald Araujo to level on the brink of half-time.
Eighteen-year-old Ngumoha then did superbly to tee up Mac Allister after the break as Liverpool hit the front for the first time, before Florian Wirtz scored his first club goal of the season.
Ultimately, Iraola’s side made it three wins out of three in Europe, but they did not make things easy for themselves.
Iraola made six changes from the win at Brentford on Saturday, with Alexander Isak, Bradley Barcola and Wirtz among those dropping to the bench, and Liverpool were punished instantly after a sloppy start.
Renato Veiga played a long ball that Virgil van Dijk should have dealt with, but the captain’s header back to Alisson was weak and intercepted by Georges Mikautadze, who finished with his left foot to give Villarreal the lead.
Nathan Saliba then played a simple ball through the heart of Liverpool’s defence and Sergi Cardona slotted past Alisson to send the 700 travelling fans wild.
Iraola’s side got one back in the 36th minute when Mac Allister headed in from Kostas Tsimikas’ corner, then Araujo got on the end of a delightful dinked ball from Ngumoha to draw Liverpool level.
Araujo was replaced by Wirtz for the start of the second half, with Ryan Gravenberch moving to right-back and Liverpool were much improved thereafter.
Ngumoha went past Cardona and provided Mac Allister with a tap-in to give Liverpool the lead, before Wirtz doubled Liverpool’s advantage with a left-footed finish.
There was a late scare when Tani Oluwaseyi got on the end of Ayoze Perez’s ball to make it 4-3 but Liverpool held on.
